Archive for the 'drainage water' Category

For years, many Washington farmers have used, in addition to surface and ground water for which they have conventional water rights, water running in drainage ditches. In some places, small dams have even been established to capture and divert the water. At least one farmer organization, the Western Washington Agricultural Association, says that farmers long have assumed the use was legal.

Water rights and water wars: They’re not just a western movie any more. As states grow and water supplies don’t the western states continue in their struggles to find enough water to meet the ever growing needs. A favorite Mark Twain quote (it may or may not have actually been his) in the west has been, “Whiskey’s for drinking; water’s for fighting.” Today he could just as easily have been referring to the drought-ridden eastern states where water conflicts are becoming commonplace and eastern water users are looking to the west for ideas on handling an issue that a decade ago they never thought to be addressing. The Water Gates reviews water supplies, uses and rights to use water in all 50 states.242 pages, available from Ridenbaugh Press, $15.95

The Snake River Basin Adjudication is one of the largest water adjudications the United States has ever seen, and it may be the most successful. Here's how it happened, from the pages of the SRBA Digest, for 16 years the independent source on the massive case - advances, slips, false starts and unexpected leaps.